U.S. STOCKS END LOWER IN WEEK DOMINATED BY POWELL AND RATE WORRIES (1600 EDT/2000 GMT)
Wall Street ended lower on Friday, weighed down by losses Microsoft
MSFT
, Tesla
TSLA
and other tech titans as investors assessed the likely path of Fed interest rate hikes and the risk of a recession.
This week's trading was dominated by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony to Congress, where he signaled more rate hikes ahead but vowed the central bank would proceed with caution.
Stocks climbed last week after the Fed kept interest rates steady and signaled it would likely raise rates another 50 basis points by year end.
San Francisco Fed Bank President Mary Daly told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday that two more rate hikes this year is a "very reasonable" projection, while echoing Powell's call for a more caution in policy decisions.
Investors have been betting that improved inflation readings may mean the Fed raises rates only once more in 2023 and that the end of the central bank's interest rate hiking cycle is near.
Amid uncertainty about the pace of future rat hikes, Tesla dropped 3%, while Microsoft and Nvidia
NVDA
each lost over 1%.
The S&P 500 lost 1.4% this week, and ended a 5-week winning streak. The Nasdaq
IXIC
also lost 1.4% for the week, and snapped an 8-week run of gains.
Still, the SPX is up just over 13% year-to-date, while the Nasdaq is up about 29% so far in 2023.
Wall Street ended lower on Friday, weighed down by losses Microsoft
MSFT
, Tesla
TSLA
and other tech titans as investors assessed the likely path of Fed interest rate hikes and the risk of a recession.
This week's trading was dominated by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony to Congress, where he signaled more rate hikes ahead but vowed the central bank would proceed with caution.
Stocks climbed last week after the Fed kept interest rates steady and signaled it would likely raise rates another 50 basis points by year end.
San Francisco Fed Bank President Mary Daly told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday that two more rate hikes this year is a "very reasonable" projection, while echoing Powell's call for a more caution in policy decisions.
Investors have been betting that improved inflation readings may mean the Fed raises rates only once more in 2023 and that the end of the central bank's interest rate hiking cycle is near.
Amid uncertainty about the pace of future rat hikes, Tesla dropped 3%, while Microsoft and Nvidia
NVDA
each lost over 1%.
The S&P 500 lost 1.4% this week, and ended a 5-week winning streak. The Nasdaq
IXIC
also lost 1.4% for the week, and snapped an 8-week run of gains.
Still, the SPX is up just over 13% year-to-date, while the Nasdaq is up about 29% so far in 2023.